RALEIGH – New N.C. State football coach Dave Doeren still hasn’t officially named a starting quarterback for his team’s season opener against Louisiana Tech on Aug. 31, so technically the competition for the job is still ongoing.

According to Doeren, what was once a five-man free-for-all to become Mike Glennon’s replacement has been narrowed down to just two – senior transfer Brandon Mitchell and junior Pete Thomas.

The reality, however, is that the battle has already been decided. And in many ways, it was over before it ever really began.

Doeren made that abundantly clear after spring practice when, unconvinced that either Thomas or fellow holdover Manny Stocker was ready to run his up-tempo spread offense, he went out and recruited a fifth-year free agent who he felt was.

Mitchell was an appealing choice because of his experience, his dual-threat ability and the fact that, having already received his undergraduate degree from Arkansas, he was able to play right away without having to sit out a season under NCAA transfer rules.

Though it’s uncertain what, if anything, Mitchell was promised before deciding to attend State, it’s a fair assumption that he didn’t come here to be a backup for his final year of college eligibility. He could just as easily have done that by staying with the Razorbacks.

As long as the athletic 6-foot-3, 239-pound Louisiana native was able to learn the playbook quickly and gain the trust of his new teammates, the foregone conclusion was that the Wolfpack’s starting quarterback job was his for the taking.

Judging from Doeren’s comments after Saturday’s first summer scrimmage, Mitchell has already succeeded in doing so.

Doeren

“I’m starting to see the confidence with Brandon Mitchell and the offense,” Doeren said. “He showed a lot of emotion behind the offense and was encouraging people and demanding guys to play harder. You can’t do that if you don’t know what you’re doing so it was nice to see him take another step forward.”

Mitchell completed 25 of 43 passes for 332 yards and three touchdowns in limited action at Arkansas before being moved to wide receiver last season. He said he looks at himself as the final piece to a Wolfpack offensive puzzle already loaded with a lot of veteran weapons around him.

“I just want to go out and execute and be the best player I can be for this team, because we have a lot of expectations,” Mitchell said. “To be a good quarterback in this system, you have to know how to take what the defense gives you. That makes it a good fit for me.”

Mitchell is an even better fit for State – and not just because he gives the team its best chance of winning this season.

As a graduate student entering his final college season, his success would also make for a more seamless transition into 2014, when another transfer – Florida’s Jacoby Brissett – can step right into the starting job without an incumbent standing his way to complicate matters.

Pete Thomas sat out last season after transferring from Colorado State to play in former coach Tom O’Brien’s pro style offense

It would be the perfect scenario, except for the fact that it turns poor Thomas into nothing more than collateral damage. Though Doeren has said he is open to the possibility of playing more than one quarterback on a rotating basis, that possibility looks less and less likely with each passing practice.

“The coaches always said they might bring in some competition,” Thomas said. “They did and you just have to go along with it.”

To his credit, Thomas is handling a difficult situation with grace. At the same time, you have to feel sorry for the kid.

After starting two seasons at Colorado State, he sat out last year waiting for his turn to become the next classic dropback passer in former coach Tom O’Brien’s pro style system. Instead, he’s become a square peg in a round hole of an offense completely foreign to his skill set.

If NCAA rules were fair, Thomas would have been allowed to leave – perhaps following O’Brien to Virginia – and been eligible to play immediately. Because they’re not, his best hope is to bid his time while another precious season slips away, graduate and like Mitchell, find a better situation as somebody else’s fifth-year free agent next year.